Melissa Clarke: The family of a seven-month-old boy shot dead by an Israeli soldier on Friday is promising to pursue justice, however difficult that process is likely to be. His father says he'd stopped the family car when confronted by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron, but says they opened fire anyway. The Israeli military says it's investigating the case. Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran has the details, and a warning this report includes distressing details.
Matthew Doran: In the intensive care ward of Hebron's Al Ahli hospital, Dania Salameh is surrounded by family, but someone's missing.
Dania Salameh: I'm injured and I'm hurt, especially because of my son Sam. I lost my little son, Sam.
Matthew Doran: Dania was hit by a bullet which had just passed through the head of her seven-month-old son Sam, who was sitting with her in the back of the family car when they were shot at by an Israeli soldier.
Dania Salameh: The shot hit my husband's head, then came to my child Sam, to his head, it came out of his head, then it came to my ears and face and neck, and one bullet in my chest.
Matthew Doran: While Dania survived, albeit with serious injuries, her son was killed. His father, Fahd Abu Haikal, cradling his tiny body as he carried him hopelessly into the emergency ward.
Fahd Abu Haikal: I was beside him till the last moment. I hugged him. It's cold. It's not easy to hold your son in the morning, the warm body, and in the evening you hold him with a cold body. All the innocent dreams, everything dies with him.
Matthew Doran: On Friday evening, they'd been travelling to the family home in the suburb of Hebron called Tel Rumeida, a Palestinian neighbourhood with an Israeli settler enclave, considered illegal under international law. But Israeli soldiers were operating blocks from the settlement's high security border, which is where they came upon the family. It was still light when Fahd says he stopped the car, released the steering wheel and held his hands up. Then they opened fire.
Fahd Abu Haikal: No warning. You know they shoot a bullet for warning. No, they shoot the first bullet in the windshield, directly. The other one in the car engine.
Matthew Doran: The Israeli military issued a statement soon after the incident, saying the family's car had been perceived as accelerating towards their soldiers, but after opening fire, they found uninvolved civilians were injured, and it said it expressed deep sorrow for any harm caused. It's now told the ABC an investigation has been launched by the military police's criminal division. One Israeli human rights organisation, B'Tselem, said more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, and 234 of them were minors. Another Israeli organisation, Yesh Din, said it's rare to see charges laid against soldiers. Its data suggested fewer than 1% of the almost 2,500 complaints made against soldiers between 2016 and 2024 resulted in indictments. But for Fahd, pursuing justice for his son is crucial.
Fahd Abu Haikal: He is my son. He was precious. He is also still precious for me. I will not forget anything about him.
Matthew Doran: Do you worry that this is going to be brushed away and ignored?
Fahd Abu Haikal: I don't care. I will try my best. I take all my steps for the justice. Sam was everything, the smile in my house.
Matthew Doran: This is Matthew Doran in Hebron in the West Bank, reporting for AM.